3 ms·

> I was unable to find the paper the article claims was published about this, which is a shame because I'd love to learn more about what the researchers actuall

> I was unable to find the paper the article claims was published about this, which is a shame because I'd love to learn more about what the researchers actually said. https://www.aging-us.com/article/103571 https://www.aging-us.com/article/103571

JoshuaDavid 6y ago
I don't think it's that one, no mention of telomeres anywhere in the article.
- ksaj 6y ago
  Here's a book (not an article) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6486/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6486/ It's been a while since I looked into this. The (simplified) AAAA at the end of a DNA strand gets shorter and shorter upon each reproduction, kinda like an aglet, holding things together until it is too short, and then the strands unwind and get knotted in counterproductive ways, creating unintentional proteins, etc, resulting in disease and eventually death. Our immune system typically notices this happening, and kills off those cells first. Eventually it gets out of control, and population density is maintained. Evolution-wise, this kills off the individual sooner. Population-wise this maintains the population strength since it lowers the energy competition (food, etc) and keeps it balanced.
  - JoshuaDavid 6y ago
    Group selection hypotheses tend not to pan out except in very specific situations where each member of the group shares almost all of its genetic material with other members of the group.
    - ksaj 6y ago
      I mentioned that in another comment - it only counts if the individual makes a significant impact on the next generation(s). Hence my original comment about living longer (past reproduction age) not budging the evolutionary aspect. Evolution has very little to do with individuals. It has everything to do with what gets added or subtracted from the population as a result of its appearance and spread within the population.

JoshuaDavid 6y ago

I don't think it's that one, no mention of telomeres anywhere in the article.

ksaj 6y ago
Here's a book (not an article) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6486/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6486/ It's been a while since I looked into this. The (simplified) AAAA at the end of a DNA strand gets shorter and shorter upon each reproduction, kinda like an aglet, holding things together until it is too short, and then the strands unwind and get knotted in counterproductive ways, creating unintentional proteins, etc, resulting in disease and eventually death. Our immune system typically notices this happening, and kills off those cells first. Eventually it gets out of control, and population density is maintained. Evolution-wise, this kills off the individual sooner. Population-wise this maintains the population strength since it lowers the energy competition (food, etc) and keeps it balanced.
- JoshuaDavid 6y ago
  Group selection hypotheses tend not to pan out except in very specific situations where each member of the group shares almost all of its genetic material with other members of the group.
  - ksaj 6y ago
    I mentioned that in another comment - it only counts if the individual makes a significant impact on the next generation(s). Hence my original comment about living longer (past reproduction age) not budging the evolutionary aspect. Evolution has very little to do with individuals. It has everything to do with what gets added or subtracted from the population as a result of its appearance and spread within the population.